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Novel Botulinum Neurotoxins: Exploring Underneath the Iceberg Tip

Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs), the etiological agents of botulism, are the deadliest toxins known to humans. Yet, thanks to their biological and toxicological features, BoNTs have become sophisticated tools to study neuronal physiology and valuable therapeutics for an increasing number of human diso...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Tehran, Domenico Azarnia, Pirazzini, Marco
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5983246/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29748471
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/toxins10050190
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author Tehran, Domenico Azarnia
Pirazzini, Marco
author_facet Tehran, Domenico Azarnia
Pirazzini, Marco
author_sort Tehran, Domenico Azarnia
collection PubMed
description Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs), the etiological agents of botulism, are the deadliest toxins known to humans. Yet, thanks to their biological and toxicological features, BoNTs have become sophisticated tools to study neuronal physiology and valuable therapeutics for an increasing number of human disorders. BoNTs are produced by multiple bacteria of the genus Clostridium and, on the basis of their different immunological properties, were classified as seven distinct types of toxin. BoNT classification remained stagnant for the last 50 years until, via bioinformatics and high-throughput sequencing techniques, dozens of BoNT variants, novel serotypes as well as BoNT-like toxins within non-clostridial species have been discovered. Here, we discuss how the now “booming field” of botulinum neurotoxin may shed light on their evolutionary origin and open exciting avenues for future therapeutic applications.
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spelling pubmed-59832462018-06-06 Novel Botulinum Neurotoxins: Exploring Underneath the Iceberg Tip Tehran, Domenico Azarnia Pirazzini, Marco Toxins (Basel) Review Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs), the etiological agents of botulism, are the deadliest toxins known to humans. Yet, thanks to their biological and toxicological features, BoNTs have become sophisticated tools to study neuronal physiology and valuable therapeutics for an increasing number of human disorders. BoNTs are produced by multiple bacteria of the genus Clostridium and, on the basis of their different immunological properties, were classified as seven distinct types of toxin. BoNT classification remained stagnant for the last 50 years until, via bioinformatics and high-throughput sequencing techniques, dozens of BoNT variants, novel serotypes as well as BoNT-like toxins within non-clostridial species have been discovered. Here, we discuss how the now “booming field” of botulinum neurotoxin may shed light on their evolutionary origin and open exciting avenues for future therapeutic applications. MDPI 2018-05-10 /pmc/articles/PMC5983246/ /pubmed/29748471 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/toxins10050190 Text en © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Tehran, Domenico Azarnia
Pirazzini, Marco
Novel Botulinum Neurotoxins: Exploring Underneath the Iceberg Tip
title Novel Botulinum Neurotoxins: Exploring Underneath the Iceberg Tip
title_full Novel Botulinum Neurotoxins: Exploring Underneath the Iceberg Tip
title_fullStr Novel Botulinum Neurotoxins: Exploring Underneath the Iceberg Tip
title_full_unstemmed Novel Botulinum Neurotoxins: Exploring Underneath the Iceberg Tip
title_short Novel Botulinum Neurotoxins: Exploring Underneath the Iceberg Tip
title_sort novel botulinum neurotoxins: exploring underneath the iceberg tip
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5983246/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29748471
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/toxins10050190
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